1992 Camry Oil Leak 4cyl - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

kartracer03 · 02-02-2005, 08:58 AM

I just bought a 1992 Camry on January 10th with 175,200 miles on it. It has ran great and no problems so far. It started developing an oil leak this past week with 177,000 miles on it. The oil is leaking somewhere out of the back of the engine. I had it up on jackstands last night and could not pinpoint the leak. I replaced the valve cover gasket because there was oil on the intake manifold down to the oil pan. When I replaced the valve cover gasket, I replaced the spark plugs. I discovered the #3 spark plug tube had quite a bit of oil in it. Does the oil get in through the upper seals that hold the valve cover down. All the hold downs for the valve cover were not too consistently tight. I torqued the valve cover hold downs. Where else could the oil leak be coming from that would start at the top of the engine? The oil spots show up right below the right rear corner of the engine. Thanks for the help.

burchard · 02-02-2005, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kartracer03

I just bought a 1992 Camry on January 10th with 175,200 miles on it. It has ran great and no problems so far. It started developing an oil leak this past week with 177,000 miles on it. The oil is leaking somewhere out of the back of the engine. I had it up on jackstands last night and could not pinpoint the leak. I replaced the valve cover gasket because there was oil on the intake manifold down to the oil pan. When I replaced the valve cover gasket, I replaced the spark plugs. I discovered the #3 spark plug tube had quite a bit of oil in it. Does the oil get in through the upper seals that hold the valve cover down. All the hold downs for the valve cover were not too consistently tight. I torqued the valve cover hold downs. Where else could the oil leak be coming from that would start at the top of the engine? The oil spots show up right below the right rear corner of the engine. Thanks for the help.

The distributor O ring is a possibility..

***BLUEMEANIE*** · 02-02-2005, 11:37 AM

Rear Main Seal perhaps...

Calvin327 · 02-02-2005, 12:20 PM

I'm guessing the samething. Its either those two things.

toyrolla · 02-02-2005, 12:39 PM

Does the 5SFE valve cover bolt down like the 3SFE via the 4 spark plug bolts?

kartracer03 · 02-02-2005, 01:35 PM

I do not think it could be the dist o-ring or rear main seal since the drips appear under the right rear corner of the engine compartment. The engine had the timing belt changed out at 152,000 miles so what gaskets are replaced when this is done or are no gaskets replaced? I could suspect the oil pump gasket but not sure since there is oil drops hanging under the intake manifold.

The valve cover is held down by the four spark plug tubes.

I guess I need to degrease the backside of the engine so I start with a clean slate and see where the leak is coming from.

burchard · 02-02-2005, 01:53 PM

If the leak is minimal...what I would do is to try the cheap fix first. An oil additive to stop leaks.

toyrolla · 02-02-2005, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by burchard

If the leak is minimal...what I would do is to try the cheap fix first. An oil additive to stop leaks.

When you have a leak, you have a leak....
Oil additives to "band-aid" the process does nothing for you.

When you have a leak, you fix the leak right the first time; THEN you can call it fixed.

ChewDogg · 02-02-2005, 02:24 PM

Cam seal or front crank seal. Thats what my Celica is doing. It has 173K on it. Typical leak on the engine.

88 LE · 02-02-2005, 08:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kartracer03

I discovered the #3 spark plug tube had quite a bit of oil in it. Does the oil get in through the upper seals that hold the valve cover down.

Most likely the oil is leaking in through the bottom the spark plug tube.

The spark plug tubes screw into the cylinder head.

I remember seeing a thread here awhile back with a picture of a special tool to remove the tubes.

Quote:

All the hold downs for the valve cover were not too consistently tight. I torqued the valve cover hold downs.

I hope you didn't over torque the nuts. Your suppose to torque them to about 25 ft. lbs.

Quote:

Where else could the oil leak be coming from that would start at the top of the engine? The oil spots show up right below the right rear corner of the engine.

That would be the valve cover gasket.

Quote:

I do not think it could be the dist o-ring or rear main seal since the drips appear under the right rear corner of the engine compartment.

The rear main seal is behind the flywheel/flexplate. It goes around the crankshaft.

Dist. o-ring is on the right side of the cylinder head.

Quote:

I could suspect the oil pump gasket but not sure since there is oil drops hanging under the intake manifold.

The oil pump is on the lower left of the engine.

Are you burning oil at all? Or is it just leaking?

kartracer03 · 02-03-2005, 06:57 AM

I guess I should specify that the oil is dripping at the passenger side rear of the engine. I am talking about the right rear of the engine as you are sitting in the car, not if you are looking at the engine from the front. I got some engine degreaser and visited the car wash last night. I tried to get the backside of the engine the best I could. After this, I drove home which is about 40 miles. When I got home, I looked at the back of the engine while the car was in the street. I could see a trail of oil coming down the back of the engine. It was running down the rear engine mount. Could the head gasket be leaking oil? I torqued the valve cover at 18 ft-lbs. Obviously the leak was not coming from the valve cover since it is still leaking. I would like to pinpoint the leak and fix it. It is not a major leak since it has not lost more than 1/2 a quart but annoying enough. The car got booted to the street since I do not want oil spots on my driveway. Any help is appreciated.

88 LE · 02-03-2005, 07:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kartracer03

I guess I should specify that the oil is dripping at the passenger side rear of the engine. I am talking about the right rear of the engine as you are sitting in the car, not if you are looking at the engine from the front.

When you said the right side of the engine, I thought you were talking about the side with the distributor.

Should of been more specific. No one looks at an engine while sitting inside the car.

Quote:

Could the head gasket be leaking oil?

I doubt it. The oil passages are in a ways from the outer edges of the head gasket.

Usually they'll leak between a water and oil passage, water to combustion chamber, or oil to combustion chamber. But these result from overheating or a blown head gasket.

The only thing I can suggest is that you try and pin point the leak.

And your sure that its oil? The reason I ask is because the power steering pump is on the left rear of the engine (near the top). The high pressure hose sometimes leak and drip fluid everywhere, some people mistake this for oil, but its ATF (auto tranny fluid).

kartracer03 · 02-03-2005, 08:09 AM

I will check out the power steering system. I kind of suspected it but it always looked like oil. I guess after ATF runs down a dirty engine and frame rail, it could come out looking like oil. Are those hoses easy and inexpensive to replace? Is the power steering fluid with stop leak an alternative? I hate to band-aid the problem but this is just a car to drive while I sell my truck and to keep as a commuter. Thanks for the help.

kartracer03 · 02-03-2005, 10:20 AM

I guess I should look at part prices before asking. I looked up the pressure hose on Autozone and Advance Autoparts. They both have the hose for only $28. I was afraid it would be a dealer only item.

It is surprising that the power steering system is supposed to use ATF. I checked it the other night and the reservoir was full but fluid was clear. I wonder if previous owner used regular power steering fluid. I will definitely check out the hose and hopefully that is the problem causing the leak.

mandyfig · 02-03-2005, 11:10 AM

From my recent experience:

I had leak coming from the valve cover gasket, when my mechanic changed it, we changed the "spark plug seal," this seals the oil from going down to your plugs. This is important, it cost me $18 for the 4.

I stll have an oil leak and since my car's previous owner replaved the timing belt and water pump, my mechanic was suspicious that they did not replace the oil pump gasket, not the seal, but the gasket.

I see oil leaking on the side of the timing belt, and my mechanic says, unfortunately, we will have to open up the timing belt, etc., just to replace a $5 gasket, sucks but that is the way it is.

When you do your timing belt, replace all gaskets with new ones and do it cautiously, oil dripping pisses me off, I do have a pan under the car to get the oil leaks, I have to go back andf schedule for the Oil pump gasket repair!

The only other potential source would be....the common Oil pan gasket. I assume you have ruled this out. In my case, the oil that is dripping from the timing belt side is running through the oip pan gasket, making it appear it is coming from there.

Also, there were some gunk residue on the distributor, so my mechanic decided to repelace the distributor o-ring, which was mashed out flat, again a $1 item, but a biotch to replace, but it stops the oil leak.

Good luck!

Oil Leak is a menace!